Feds Plan $70M Office Consolidation

The United States’ largest landlord is planning the mother of all downsizings.

The U.S. General Services Administration has announced a $70 million consolidation project that will slash the federal real-estate footprint by more than a half-million square feet and cut millions of dollars from its rent and leasing costs.

"In addition to its innovative Total Workplace program and ongoing property disposal efforts, GSA has identified 19 projects across the country where the agency will work with other federal agencies to consolidate their offices into a federally owned space," GSA announced April 21.

GSA

The Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse is one of 19 properties scheduled for renovation under the consolidation plan. The Tucson, AZ, building will get a $3.9 million upgrade.

Total Workplace is a flexible-workplace efficiency program; in addition, GSA has been seeking to sell, swap, lease or otherwise dispose of millions of square feet nationwide that it can no longer use.

Recently, the agency offered to give buildings in need of redevelopment in exchange for construction services on several Washington, D.C., buildings.

Scaling Back

The new consolidation effort is aimed at reducing costs by eliminating multiple leases, as well as scaling back the federal government’s energy and water consumption.

The GSA currently provides workspace for more than a million federal workers in both federally owned and leased space across more than 9,000 properties—377.9 million square feet of workspace in all.

Wikimedia Commons / Jim.henderson (left) and Chloe Fan (right)

GSA will invest $5 million to renovate the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building (left) in New York City and $509,000 on the Peachtree Summit Federal Building in Atlanta. Both were built in the 1970s.

"As dedicated stewards of the public trust and the environment, GSA is committed to assisting federal agencies in reducing their carbon footprint and employing cost-effective green building strategies," the agency said.

GSA says the consolidation plan will:

Save federal agencies $17 million in annual rent payments;

Reduce the federal footprint by 507,000 rentable square feet; and

Reduce the government’s leasing costs by more than $38 million.

The plan will affect one federal building in each of 19 cities, a GSA spokeswoman told the Federal Times.

The agency is not yet saying when, where or how many federal employees will eventually be relocated.

'A New Day for Office Space'

“As public servants, we have a responsibility to serve the American people as effectively and efficiently as possible," GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said in the announcement.

"By consolidating these locations, we are not just eliminating redundant rents and space, but also encouraging collaboration among government workers by creating open workspace. We’re ushering in a new day for office space throughout the federal government.”

Creative Commons / Tomf688

The Center Building at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington D.C. dates to the U.S. Civil War. The hospital campus is in the middle of a major renovation that will consolidate several agencies there.

Consolidation is not a new plan for GSA, but the scope of the new list is. A multiyear redevelopment effort is currently underway at the old St. Elizabeths Hospital complex in Washington, D.C.

When complete, the unified and secured campus will house the new headquarters of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies.

Project List

GSA issued this Project Consolidation List, with the amount allocated for each renovation.